Tehran, Iran, June 7
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Temkin Jafarov - Trend:
At its third international maritime exhibition, Iran is hosting foreign companies willing to find a way into the country's market after Iran is freed from economic sanctions.
The Iranian market is a very important market with lots of well-educated people, very strong petroleum market, and a lot of money from the oil, Hans-ole Madsen, senior vice president at the Philippine International Container Terminal Services Inc., EME Region told Trend at the company's booth on the fairground in Tehran on June 7.
He said his presence in Iran is justified by the fact that besides its own market, Iran can provide a good gateway for a lot of the stans as well as the Far East.
Madsen whose company has built container ports for 22 countries said his company held talks with the Iranian Ports and Sailing Organization the day before, hoping to find a good market in Iran.
Things are a little constrained at the moment because of the sanctions, but there is hope they will be sorted out, he noted.
The sanctions which were imposed on Iran in the course of disputes over its nuclear program are expected to be removed via a comprehensive deal which is to be reached by the end of June.
Iran insists that all economic and financial sanctions, including those related to energy, banking, financial services, SWIFT, insurance, transportation, ship-building and ports be lifted at once on the first day of implementation of the nuclear accord.
Some 6.2 million metric tons of non-oil goods and 3.6 million metric tons of oil products were loaded and unloaded at the country's ports during the month ending May 10.
The shipment of oil products via Iranian ports fell by 8.3 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, 355,326 metric tons of non-oil goods were transited via the country's ports, a 28.3 percent decrease compared to the same month last year.
However, the total volume of goods transited via the country's ports rose by 2.2 percent, reaching from 395,508 metric tons in the first month last fiscal year to 404,383 metric tons in the current year.